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Content creator vs. content creation: How to find the right balance for your business
As consumers continue to demand more from the brands they support, business owners tend to feel an even greater pressure to be omnipresent online. But, how far should you go?
While creating content is often necessary to grow your business, that doesn’t mean you have to fully embrace the role of a content creator. Here are some ways to strike a balance in your business and marketing efforts.
Consistency in marketing: your key to success or the reason you’re falling short?
Consistent marketing is often promoted by marketers as your key to building audience trust, increasing customer loyalty, and improving sales numbers. But what does being consistent actually mean?
The best way to uphold a sense of marketing consistency for your business is to be intentional with the schedule you set out for yourself, and what you hope to achieve through these efforts. Let’s further explore what this means, and how to apply this concept in your own business.
How-to guide: learn to brand yourself with words
What you do, what you say (and the tone you say it in), who you are, how you help your clients or audience – each of these elements create an imprint on the world. You don't get to have control over your brand, but you can heavily influence it by thinking about how you want others to perceive you.
Honing in on your brand voice, tone, style, and values can help you decide what marketing actions you will take (and which you’ll avoid) to reinforce the traits, values, and perspectives you want to emphasize about your company.
Content writing prompts: 5 ideas to ignite your imagination
Constantly trying to come up with content ideas day in and day out can seem like a daunting task, and after a while it’s inevitable that you’ll experience moments where you find yourself staring at an empty page and a blinking cursor, trying to figure out what to write about.
On those days, I like to turn to the world of content prompts. For both myself and my clients, using creative writing prompts as a starting point for a blog or social media post can help to ignite the imagination.
Here are 5 to get you started.
A few of my favourite productivity and creativity tools for small business owners
To build a successful business you need to focus on sustainability.
To support you in your pursuit to accomplish more in your business, without running yourself into the ground, I’ve compiled a few of my favourite productivity and creativity helpers.
I use these frequently in my business and with my clients for increased efficiency, and to help ensure I have a more manageable workload!
The cost of burnout and how to avoid it
I regularly work with creatives and business owners on honing in on their marketing plans and strategy, and more often than not there is no shortage of ideas. There’s rarely a lack of inspiration or an empty to-do list. Instead, I’m generally shutting ideas down (in a loving way), streamlining processes, and encouraging entrepreneurs to be more realistic with what they focus on and commit to.
Because although their ideas might be new and fun and exciting, there is always a cost to pursuing them. And far too often I see business owners spinning their wheels – trying to do way more than they have the resources for, and bringing themselves to the point of burnout, because they don’t have a plan in place.
How to create effective calls to action (CTAs) in your content
Your call to action directs your audience as to what you want them to do in each piece of content. It provides consumers with clear next steps and direction, which can reduce friction for customers, prevent decision fatigue or overwhelm, and generate more conversions.
Unfortunately, these calls to action are also often misunderstood, which can make them frustrating.
Here are some examples of the common issues I see with CTAs and how to fix them.
3 important questions your content needs to answer
You need to approach all of your content, particularly your sales pages, thinking about how what you’re writing is going to serve the reader, and plant the seed that working with you or purchasing your product is potentially their next step.
Good content is about more than simply being well-written. It’s about providing your readers with the answers to the questions they’re searching for.
Here are 3 critical questions your content needs to answer.
Why you still need a blog on your website
If you’ve heard that blogs are outdated and there’s no point in starting one, or that you should abandon your blogging efforts in pursuit of a social media strategy, I’m sorry to say that unfortunately you’ve likely been given bad advice.
Now granted, blogging practices have changed. And, yes, social media can be a great way to grow your business. But blogging is far from dead. In fact, blogging can be an integral element of a larger content marketing plan if executed properly.
Here are some of the top reasons you still need a blog on your website if you’re looking to grow your business.
There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ marketing plan
The spoiler alert you likely didn’t want: there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ when it comes to marketing. Unfortunately no one, not even the most successful business owners or brands, can simply hand over their marketing blueprint and promise you the same results they’ve seen.
Your business is unique. You are unique. What you do to grow your business should fit you, your business, the audience you want to attract, and the market you're in. (And no, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do things you don’t want to do to achieve your goals.)
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